The milestone of 50 ODI centuries already achieved, what's next for Virat Kohli as far as personal landmarks are concerned? There is only one number – 100, the number of centuries Sachin Tendulkar has scored in international cricket. Kohli, currently sitting on 80 centuries, is 35, and easily has at least another three years considering he is one of the fittest athletes in the world. Even though Virat is at a stage where he can pick and choose series he wants to play or skip, Kohli remains highly active. With a packed Test calendar in the coming year, including Test series against England and Australia, and ICC tournaments like the T20 World Cup and Champions Trophy in 2025, never say never.
But that's not a mantra Clive Lloyd believes in. The West Indies legend, while not beating around the bush too much, is supremely confident in Kohli going all the way. Lloyd, a two-time World Cup winner with West Indies in 1975 and 1979, going by what he has seen of Kohli, firmly believes that nothing is impossible for Virat.
"I do not know about the period, but he is young enough, and I am sure that the way he is playing he can achieve anything he wants to achieve, and it would be something to be quite happy to achieve," Lloyd said during an event in Kolkata.
Kohli, who is part of the Afghanistan T20Is but had to miss Thursday's series opener for personal reasons, looked like a million bucks during India's tour of South Africa. Playing the Test series – his first since the World Cup – even though Kohli did not score a century or get a big innings, his knocks of 76 in Centurion and 46 in Cape Town, easily made him the best Indian batter on tour. In fact, the 46 on that troublesome Newlands wicket – which was rated as 'unsatisfactory' by the ICC was one of the crispest knocks from Kohli in Tests in recent memories.
Lloyd on 'unsatisfactory' Cape Town pitch
{{/usCountry}}Kohli, who is part of the Afghanistan T20Is but had to miss Thursday's series opener for personal reasons, looked like a million bucks during India's tour of South Africa. Playing the Test series – his first since the World Cup – even though Kohli did not score a century or get a big innings, his knocks of 76 in Centurion and 46 in Cape Town, easily made him the best Indian batter on tour. In fact, the 46 on that troublesome Newlands wicket – which was rated as 'unsatisfactory' by the ICC was one of the crispest knocks from Kohli in Tests in recent memories.
Lloyd on 'unsatisfactory' Cape Town pitch
{{/usCountry}}With the ball bouncing and seaming around, Kohli cut, pulled and drove his way at a strike-rate of almost 78. Even at the SuperSport Park, as wickets fell around him like ninepins, Kohli held one end strong and played an array of blistering strokes. A little support from someone, and who knows? No. 81 was a sure shot possibility. The only batter who perhaps matched Kohli's class in the 2nd Test was Aiden Markram, who struck one of the grittiest centuries the mind can hark back to on that unruly surface, talking of which Lloyd did not feel there were any demons on that pitch.
"I do not think anything was wrong with the pitch. Somebody made a hundred on that same pitch, on a wearing pitch, so I think it is just an application. And I am wondering if that had happened in India, with what they would have done to the ground persons. Because if you lose in a day and a bit, the first thing they will look at is the pitch. India had a turning pitch here the other day, and everybody said some terrible things about the pitch. If you are playing top-class cricket, you should be able to handle those sort of things," a candid Lloyd said.